Arontius of Bygelswade

.....Tennyson's poetry is, in my opinion, either really, really good, or really, really bad. In this case, 'The Lady of Shalott' is one of my absolute favorite poems...

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And through the field the road runs by
To many towered Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round and island there below,
The island of Shalott.

.....It seems like a Tennyson type of day. I hope the weather lasts a few days. :-)

.....The State of Washington was finally paid last night for the sales tax I owed them from Ingasbo last year. I put together all my forms and spread sheets much earlier this year in support of the Federal Taxes, and all the appropriate figures were included on to the appropriate Federal tax forms. Then I put the paperwork aside. Every time I thought about it I kept thinking that I had already paid the State at the same time. A vicious cycle for sure. :-)

.....They wanted their money though. I was starting to get phone messages on the house phone. You know, the one on which we rarely check for messages? :-) So I slogged through it last night. Ended up owing the State of Washington almost $35. Which included a 25% late fee.

.....At some point soon I believe, just from looking at the forms, that a tax will be collected for sales made out of State and Country. That will end up being an interesting accounting maneuver. I can just imagine that if Washington State charges me for sales outside the state, the receiving state will charge the individual for that sale. Will I have to collect for both? It is already an interesting maneuver keeping track of the different sales tax rates in various locations within the State. Will I then have to track the different sales tax rates of any of the municipalities, counties, and states to which I make sales?

.....Definitely going to have to do some reading up on the issue.

.....I'm just glad I don't keep an inventory. All my circlets are done to order. I've pondered expansion into other areas at times. But keeping up with circlet orders takes enough energy and concentration. Maybe something for the future.

.....The Baronial Pavilion was loaded into the Jahnkin Mobile last night for transport to Hot Summer Lights. Part of me wishes I had taken it myself to the event today and camped. But there is a lot to do at home, and certainly TBT needs every spare moment she can get in catching up with her orders. All I have to do is to look at the August calendar to realize that any weekend night I get to sleep in my own bed should be cherished. :-) So it is home tonight and a trip to Druim Doineann fairly early in the morning.

.....It'll be interesting to see if Baron Alexsii makes an appearance at Hot Summer Lights. He's expected to. But I know there are things happening in the Blatha An Oir area as well. I know his Squire, who happens to be the HSL Autocrat, has probably worked hard at persuading him that he needs to be in attendance. I suppose they could split their forces, with Her Excellency Elspeth going to one function, and Baron Alexsii the other.

.....In either case, HSL looks to be more exciting this year than it has been in a number of years. You can see the excitement felt by the Shire Populace in reading their postings to the Shire e-list.

.....TBT and I will have our first Sargent's testing on Saturday as well. Both Jahnkin and Caedmon wanted to be put through the paces and be tested for their abilities at Heavy Fighting. Master Cedric is going to be our judge for the occasion. We sent him the criteria for the testing and Cedric understood the intent right away. He will do a great job with it, and already had ideas on how to improve upon it for next year.

.....The hardest part is making it challenging, showing the skills and abilities of the candidates, and proving that the candidates are good heavy fighters. Don't want to make it challenging to the point though that it becomes difficult to judge, or find judges to accomplish. TBT and I wanted to ease back just a little on the requirements as we emphasized the eventual Quest being as important as the Trials themselves. And something that could be done in a six month period.

.....It's been a difficult balancing act. Trying to ensure that all the various branches of the Serjeantry are evenly balanced in what is expected of them. But directly comparing Heavy Fighting for Sargents against Artistry for Courtiers is impossible. So ensuring that the Trials take as much ability and dedication for each branch to accomplish? That has been the real challenge for us. And will continue to be so.

.....Not only will Jahnkin and Caedmon have to prove their individual fighting abilities, they will also have to prove their abilities to lead a group of fighters into and through scenarios as well. I'm looking forward to watching this aspect just to see what each of the candidates do. Jahnkin and Caedmon are very different people and their leadership styles of course are very different. So what tactics and strategy will they each use?

.....Which led me to wondering how we see the same thing in the Arts and Sciences Courtiers. Can teaching be considered in the same league? Not really. So I wonder if there is something along the lines of a giant arts project that can be assigned to Arts and Sciences Courtier candidates to prove their abilities to lead, as well as use tactics and strategy to succeed at a task?

.....Or is this something that a Courtier even needs to worry about? After we get through this year and have set the Candidates on their Quests, it'll be interesting to sit them all down and go through all the questions I've been collecting over the past handful of months. There will be a few changes in the requirements next year I'm thinking.

.....No armor for either TBT or myself this weekend. Mine still needs some work and TBT is still missing a few pieces. Neither of us have really had the time to devote to this at all. We'll end up being observers again. Which means of course that I'll be teased unmercifully again. Sigh! :-)

.....Sunday will be all about getting ready for the Summer Madness weekend next. The garage looks like a disaster area and all of our camping stuff is intermixed with everything else in there. Will definitely require several hours of organization to get it pulled. Not bringing everything I usually bring to a camping event. I think the multitudinous banners will stay home. Half the chairs will stay packed, alongside most of the carpeting. :-) I think that 'fun and relaxing' better be the mantra.

.....But I should go ahead and finish pulling out the stuff I need for tomorrow now. That way I'm not scrambling for it at 0600 tomorrow. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.